Alan Moore’s take on Rob Liefeld’s Supreme started and ended far before my first jump into the comics world, so perhaps it’s the time gap or the lack of an interesting story that makes Supreme #63 far from enjoyable. The return of Supreme (yet another of Liefeld’s creations to come back from the dead) is bland and falls flat before the tale ever takes off. Erik Larsen’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s original story notes is a worthy effort, but the book’s attempts to relive bizarre Silver Age tropes while injecting “clever” humor leave so much to be desired.

Supreme’s characters lack any redeeming qualities or enjoyable characteristics. The “superman’s” lady love leans on the ditsy side, his sister is unintelligent and paranoid, Darius Dax the nemesis reeks of cheesy diabolical motives, while Supreme himself is more of a boring oaf than an interesting man. Intertwined with the strange character interactions are silly attempts at being overly clever and self-aware, as Moore’s notes poke fun and make comments about the comic medium. It is clear Moore’s choices are intended to be innocent and light-hearted, but there have been countless better examples of clever writing since Supreme’s end.

Without having a previous history of Supreme that would elicit a nostalgic connection to the book, the hero’s return offers little to be excited about. Readers who enjoyed Moore and Liefeld’s Supreme are sure to be thrilled by the hero’s return, but newer fans will have little to hold their interest.